Nifty little gadgets

What a fun item that's sure to get everyone wanting one! On the go and don't know the time? This is your solution. Plus it has a flashlight to help you find your way.The handy projection clock, can shine an image of a clock onto just about any surface. With clear and sharp numbers, even if you are shortsighted or in the dark area, you still can identify the time correctly. Put it on your keychain, keep it by your nightstand... you'll love it. One thing you're going to want to do is buy more than one! Everyone is fascinated by this. FEATURES:- Pocket size with key ring design Projection Clock- Bright LED Flashlight- Elegant, portable and glossy design - Projects onto any surface and shows date and time- Dimension: 7 x 3 x 2 cm- Power: DC 1.5V (1 x AG3) for clock (INCLUDED) DC 3.0V(2 x AG13) for projection (INCLUDED)

Go here for more information: http://www2.pulsetv.com/prodinfo.asp?number=4712

WATER PEARLS

These polymer pearls are created by simply adding water and can hold 100 times their weight in water! This causes the water absorbent beads to expand into perfect miniature spheres. Use them to add some extra color to your decorating scheme, centerpiece, candlescape, etc. Use separately or mix colors in one vase for a stellar effect! As little as 2 ounces will create approximately 5.75L or 1.5 gallons of hydrated water pearls! Water pearls are reusable and will fit down the smallest vase openings (i.e. tower vases) Non-toxic and biodegradable.

For more information visit:http://www2.pulsetv.com/water_pearls.asp

Super Slim iPod Like 1GB MP3/MP4 Player by Coby

This Digital MP3/MP4 player, made by Coby, is more than just a music machine. You can store photos, playback some movies, record your voice... even listen to the FM radio! You can even download text files and read them anytime you like. Power it two ways -- plug it into the battery charger, or plug it into your computer. It fits right in the palm of your hand. It has the look and the feel of an iPod but it's HALF THE PRICEMade and backed by Coby Electronics for a guaranteed quality product designed to deliver outstanding performance! PRODUCT FEATURES:- 1.66" TFT LCD full-color display (160 x 128)- Elegant touchpad interface control- Plays music, video, photos, and text- Plays digital music from most online stores and subscription services- ID3 and LRC support for song and synchronized lyric information display- Integrated FM radio and recorder- Integrated microphone for digital voice recording- USB 2.0 for ultra-fast file transfers- Touchpad Control Panel with LED backlight- Stores up to 33 hours of music (roughly 500 songs)ACCESSORIES INCLUDED- Professional Stereo Earphones- USB Cable- Video Conversion Software CD- 800# Support for any questions

For More Information Visit: http://www2.pulsetv.com/prodinfo.asp?number=4726

Auto Hand Grips

NEVER STRUGGLE TO GET OUT OF THE CAR AGAIN! This innovative handle is perfect for the millions of people who have trouble getting in and out of the backseat of a car. Hooks onto the back of the car headrest post allowing you to hold onto something with both hands when entering and exiting your car, truck or van. Features:- Soft cushioned grips fits comfortably in your hand- No Installation needed- Works on any car, truck or van- Adds extra stability for passengers- Can easily be moved from car to car- Supports up to 220 lbs

For More Information, Visit: http://www2.pulsetv.com/prodinfo.asp?number=4742

The Easy Towel

EZ Towel is a compacted towel, about the size of 5 stacked nickels in its original form. All you do is add water and watch it grow. Simply unroll the EZ Towel and use it as you wish. Opened up, the EZ Towel is 8 1/2" X 9 1/2", a full sized towel! Each bag of EZ Towels contains 50 towels. Unlike paper towels, EZ Towels are durable, soft and absorbable. One EZ Towel does the work of over 10 paper napkins! It is made of 100% Rayon and is bio-degradable. Great For home, office, restaurants, school, daycare, camping, fishing and more!!!
BONUS: Each bag comes with a FREE carrying tube!

Video and information available here: http://www2.pulsetv.com/prodinfo-vid.asp?number=4739&evtv=13154

marrage proposal from hell

Authorities in Hudson, Florida, said they have arrested awoman who allegedly threw knives at her boyfriend duringan argument about a marriage proposal.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said Celeste Irene Lagrant,39, was charged with domestic battery and aggravated domesticassault after she allegedly punched, scratched and threwknives at her boyfriend, Bruce Montle.
The office said the dispute began as an argument about amarriage proposal — however, it is unclear whether one wasmade — and escalated into a physical confrontation whenLagrant inflicted scratches and bruises on Montle.
Montle told authorities he fled and dialed 911 after Lagrantstarted throwing knives at him. Lagrant was released on herown recognizance.

ok....I'm not sure if this lady realizes it or not, but throwing knives at your mate is not the best way to get a marriage proposal out of him. LMAO!

World's Dumbest Robber

NEW YORK - An armored car guard has been arrested fora New York heist thanks to surveillance footage and aconcerned text message to his co-worker, police allege.Police said 34-year-old Robert Blackmon allegedly madeoff with $330,000 during an armored car heist Tuesday,and then contacted the co-worker he robbed via textmessage to make sure she was all right, the New YorkPost reported. Blackmon was allegedly photographed sixtimes by an automated teller machine camera during theheist, the report said. Police said Blackmon lied so hecould get off of work Tuesday and then used a gun to robhis co-worker, Janell Nelson, as she was leaving a bankwith a cash delivery. After being identified by hismanager, Blackmon was arrested, the report said.Blackmon’s lawyer told Post “he would have to be fairlystupid to rob someone who knows him without a mask.”

Viper Loses Battle With a Mouse

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan firefighters caring for a foot-long viper tossed a tiny mouse in the cage as a snack butthen watched as the mouse turned mighty and killed thesnake. The furry little rodent skirted in and out of rangeof the snake’s gaping jaws and long fangs, darted in fora bite, then skittered away, constantly on the attack. Atthe end of a fierce 30-minute battle at the Nanoun firestation, the snake was dead and the mouse had “barely ascratch on him,” one fireman told The Daily Telegraph.

CRAZY video of a girl with 2 heads!

this here is some CRAZY stuff! I could think of 1/2 a dozen smart assed comments to make about this, but unfortunately none of them would be very appropriate for younger viewers. lol Anyway...take a look at this crazy stuff!

OK! WEIRD STORY ABOUT MY BOYFRIEND!

I love my Boyfriend Dearly, but he is SOOO neurotic sometimes. He is not only afraid of water (he takes showers and all, but you'll never see him near a swimming pool or a lake or anything), and is obsessed with not showing his chest in public, and also deathly afraid of bugs. (I have a bit of fun with that one honestly) but he is firmly convinced that the quaker Oat guy is evil! He actually believes that he will steal my soul if I eat quaker oats! I'm not kidding! However...I completely disreguard his neurosis becuause I love Oatmeal dangit and I'm going to eat it! He freaked out on me when I put a box of the quaker oaty goodness into the shopping carrage. Some things about him will always remain a mystery I suppose. How can anyone believe the Quaker Oat guy is evil? LMAO!

ZENZUU the next biggest thing to happen to social networking!

My messed up life

Ok...So today started out just like any other day. I woke up a few minutes after my boyfriend got out of bed for work. Made some coffee and he and I sat together and had our little good morning ritual. Our roommate Mia seemed in rather high spirits as she went about the house preparing for work (my bf and roomie work in the same office building). Everything seemed to go as normal as things can, for around here. They both headed off to work and then Mia comes home early a little after noon time, and goes straight to her room (which isn't really all THAT unusual, I just figured she came home for lunch as she sometimes does). But then my bf comes home just minutes after her. I greet him with a hug and noticed he had a rather disturbed look on his face. I ask him what's wrong, and he said Mia was going to go to the hospital. Of course I asked why and he tells me she had been having heart palpitations and a tightness in her throat and dizzy spells and work sent her home to go to the hospital. So of course we all trekked down to the hospital. She was there for HOURS, which is nothing new to me really, but around 9:30pm they tell us she will be admitted overnight for observation. OK...no big deal....however, I wasn't exactly expecting to spend the NIGHT at the hospital and I had already been a couple days without a shower, so I decided that I was going to go home and meet them back there in the morning...Unfortunately, I don't have a car, so I had to take the bus. (keep in mind...I'm not from Dallas) so we called a friend up to look up the bus routs on the Internet and she said I needed to take the 488 bus to Farmer's Branch in Valley View. So...me not being from Dallas but rather a small town in New Hampshire went along with the plans, and figured they would know better than I would about how to get home. So I hopped on the bus and away I went. I was on that thing for what seemed like forever before finally getting a moment to talk to the bus driver. I asked him when my stop was coming up and he told me that bus didn't go anywhere NEAR where I needed to go. (Keep in mind it's nearly midnight now and I'm in one of the biggest cities in Texas and don't have a CLUE where I am) So the bus driver drops me off in the middle of some town called Addison (apparently on the outskirts of where I need to go, however I didn't know this at the time...remember....I'm not from Dallas) So I wander around for about 1/2 an hour until I run into a tattoo parlor that for some ungodly reason was still open. And asked this rather nice gentleman with an upside down pentagram on his shirt and tattoos all the way up his arm where I was at exactly, and that is how I found out I was in Addison. At this point it donned on me that my boyfriend had forgotten to give me the keys to get in the house. So I decided to try and get back to Medical City Hospital where my roommate and boyfriend were still going through the hospital rig-a-ma-roll, as going home would probably be a lost cause. So I asked the gentleman if he knew of anyone who could give me a lift there. He said he didn't know anyone, but if I went to the shell station about a 1/4 mile down the road and asked around maybe someone would be nice enough to take me there. So I did. I must have stood out there approaching people for about a 1/2 hour feeling like a total loser, before I decided I was wasting my time since everyone I talked to said they were going to work...AT MIDNIGHT mind you. So finally, I got fed up and went inside the shell station and asked the teller there to call the cops to see if they can find a way to get me back to the Hospital. Well, a cop showed up, and wouldn't ya know it, it was the K-9 unit. lol! (cute dog though, I must say...I love dogs) So the cop tells me I'm actually closer to my house than I am to the hospital...so my brain starts spinning and I figure I can go home try to break in the back window, and if that doesn't work, I can call someone from my neighbor's house as a last resort, but I HAD to get some place at least familiar. however...due to restrictions of the local police in Addison he could only bring me to the Addison/Farmer's Branch city line. (keep in mind...Farmer's branch is pretty big) so once he dropped me off, it was like 12:15 AM and I'm getting pretty darned tired and stressed to the hilt by this point. But he tells me that if I keep walking straight, I should come to one of the two Walmarts in Farmer's branch, and that he HOPED it was the one that I lived close to, as I have only been here a short time and had no idea Farmer's branch had more than one Walmart...(leave it to Texas to have an over abundance of Walmarts...now I see why they pick on them for being red-necks...ANYWAY on with the story) so I walk some more (by this time my feet are getting blisters) FINALLY...around 12:45 am or so, I find the Walmart, and by the grace of the GODS it's the one I was hoping it was...so from here I know my way, and I make it home, but remember....I don't have the key on me. SO I have to sneak around the back of the house (thank god I don't live on the second floor) and break in through the window. I felt like a thief and was paranoid someone would hear me and look out their window and call the cops on me. But luckily no one did...then I got to thinking...What if I WERE a burglar? It was WAY too easy to break into this place. So I think tomorrow, I'm going to invest in a brinks security system for the house and remember to take my keys with me next time I leave the house whether I'm with them or not.

A Raven's Musings Introduction

Ok, I know the skit kind of sucked ass, but it was my first attempt EVER at writing a comedy skit never MIND actually trying to make it sound funny. But I figured I would give it a try after running across this little site called Sims on stage. Quite a cool little site I must say (http://www.simsonstage.ea.com/) if you want to check it out and try your hand at any of the various creative performance options they have available to you there. Anyway...I hope you like the skit, but please remember, it is my very first ever attempt at comedy, so be kind. lol.

Raven

Raven's Musings

Rate this performance at The Sims On Stage

Hold Small Businesses Accountable for Discrimination and Sexual Harassment too Petition

Hold Small Businesses Accountable for Discrimination and Sexual Harassment too Petition

you should really check out this petition. It is to help those people who work for small businesses have the rights they deserve as employees. They should have the right to work in a non-hostile and non harassing environment just as much as anyone working for the bigger businesses. What does the amount of people in a company have to do with whether or not they are capable of discrimination and harassment or not? I say it has no bearing, and this law should be eradicated! it's useless and all it does is give the small businesses the right to walk all over it's employees, and what is fair about that?

please help me change the world!

Ok...this is a project I have started in hopes to stir things up in Congress a bit, and maybe make things a little better for those unfortunate people out there who have the misfortune of working for a small business owner (with less than 15 employees).

I have recently come across some information while trying to press charges against a person who was harassing me at my workplace, but I was unable to find a lawyer to take the case because of a law that is in effect that prohibits small businesses and companies with less than 15 employees from being held liable for any sexual harassment lawsuits.

Now it was appalling enough to have this guy tell me he wanted to cum all over my face and call me a whore, but to then be told that there was nothing I could do about it because there are less than 15 people in my workplace was infuriating. I am now determined to change this law so that this individual and others like him can be stopped from acting in this manner at the workplace and getting away with it. If you would like to help, please go to:
http://www.petitiononline.com/TitleVII/ and sign my petition to the U.S. Congress. HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

flying penguins!

ok, I know this video is probably edited, because physics deduce that this is impossible! but it's still pretty cool all the same! take a look at this video! Freakin' WILD man! I have to admit it gave me a little chuckle.

$25k dessert

This is one rich cup of haute chocolate: A New York eatery is offering a US$25,000 dessert bulging with top-grade cocoa, edible gold and shavings of a luxury truffle.
The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate was declared the most expensive dessert in the world on Wednesday by the Guinness World Records. The dessert is a frozen, slushy mix of cocoas from 14 countries, milk and 5 grams of 24-carat gold topped with whipped cream and shavings from a La Madeline au Truffle. It is served in a goblet with a band of gold decorated with 1 carat of diamonds and served with a golden spoon diners can take home. The dessert was created by Serendipity 3, a restaurant popular with tourists and once featured in a John Cusack movie. Now that is R-I-C-H!

wedgie proof underwear

Wedgie-proof underwear earned 8-year-old twin boys a spot Friday on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” Boy could I have used a pair of these bad-boys when I was in grade school. Using rigged boxers and fabric fasteners to hold together some seams, Jared and Justin Serovich came up with the “Rip Away 1000.”
“When the person tries to grab you — like the bully or the person tries to give you a wedgie — they just rip away,” Justin explained Thursday by phone from Los Angeles, where the TV segment was taped Wednesday.
The third graders from Gables Elementary School began brainstorming one day after they were horsing around, giving each other the treatment. Their mother’s partner sarcastically said someone ought to invent wedgie-proof underwear, the family said. The project got the boys to the finals of a central Ohio invention competition earlier this year, followed by the television appearance. And now on to untold riches I expect.

Philosophers of the Future

A 1st grade teacher put together a list of popular proverbs. She then gave each kid in the class the first part of the proverb, and asked them to finish it. Here’s what the smartie pants came up with:
Better to be safe than… punch a 5th grader.
Strike while the… bug is close.
Don’t bite the hand that… looks dirty.
No news is… impossible.
A miss is as good as a… Mr.
You can’t teach an old dog… math.
If you lie down with dogs, you… will stink in the morning.
Love all, trust… me.
An idle mind is… the best way to relax.
Where there is smoke, there’s… pollution.
Happy is the bride who… gets all the presents.
A penny saved is… not much.
Children should be seen and not… spanked or grounded.
If at first you don’t succeed… get new batteries.
You get out of something what you… see pictured on the box.
When the blind lead the blind… get out of the way.
Don’t count your chickens….because you gotta eat one.

Police Shut Down Italian Circus After Woman Forced to Swim in Piranha Tank

Police have closed down a circus in southern Italy after a terrified 19-year-old woman was forced to swim in a tank full of piranha fish while her younger sister endured the company of snakes and tarantulas.
Three men have been arrested and charged with holding the Bulgarian women in slavery and breaching international human rights conventions.
The trio, who are accused of running a "circus of horrors," were named as Enrico Raffaele Ingrassia, 57, the owner, his son William Ingrassia, 33, and his son-in-law Gaetano Belfiore, 25.
The Marino Circus has been offering shows at Petina, south of Naples in southern Italy, in a tent with 200 plastic seats inside it.
Ingrassia's daughter, who was not named, told police that a Bulgarian couple and their two daughters, aged 19 and 16, had been held as slaves "in a state of fear" since January.
They were forced to work 15 to 20 hours a day for about $200 a week instead of the promised $957, with $757 deducted as "expenses for their upkeep."
An appalled spectator tipped off the police after seeing the show, in which Giusi, the 19-year-old woman, tried to escape from the piranha tank "trembling with terror" her head was held down by Ingrassia.
/**/

Her 16-year-old sister, Olga, was bitten by snakes that she was forced to drape on her body, and she had injuries to her stomach where the snakes had wound themselves too tightly around her. The circus owners had rubbed ointment on snake bites on her legs but had refused to take her to a doctor.
Police said the Bulgarian family had lived in the back of a cockroach-infested lorry used for animal transport. The only meat they had been given since January consisted of leftovers from the circus owners' Easter lunch last weekend.
Reports said Giusi had a tumour on her ear for which she had twice been operated in Bulgaria. Doctors had told her never to get water in her ears, especially cold water. However the water tank in which she was forced to swim with eight piranhas was kept at a temperature just above zero in order to make the piranhas lethargic.
The Bulgarian family has now been taken to "safe premises." Police said the raid on the circus followed an undercover operation in which plain clothes officers took their families with them as cover and filmed the show as evidence. They said the arrested men appeared surprised but made no attempt to justify their behavior.
Corriere della Sera said the incident appeared to be "something out of the 19th century" but showed that slavery was still "very much a reality" in modern Italy. La Stampa said the treatment of the Bulgarians was "unfortunately not an isolated incident" of illegal immigrant labor, with many East European women brought to Italy as street prostitutes.
Police said they were investigating "trafficking in humans" by organized crime to supply circuses with cheap labor. The Bulgarian women's mother worked as a cook at the site while their father moved tents and equipment and cleaned the camper vans and lorries. The mother had once tried to run away but had been captured and beaten, police said.
Livio Togni, a former left wing senator whose family ran Italy's best known circus for generations, said "I've never in my life heard anything like this. There is a strong sense of solidarity in the circus world, and violence is not part of it."

Reward Offered For Woman Accused Of Sex With Teen

Becky Jo Tatum: accused of having sex with a Teen girl

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Central Ohio Crime Stoppers on Wednesday offered up to $2,000 for information that leads to the arrest of a Bexley woman accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Becky Jo Tatum earlier this week after the allegations surfaced in a search warrant, 10TV's Tracy Townsend reported.

The warrant revealed that the 14-year-old girl was at Tatum's home earlier this month when the alleged sexual conduct occurred. The teenager said that she "had been drinking and had a buzz" prior to the incident, according to the warrant.

The teen described Tatum as "flirtatious" and said that Tatum took her by "her left hand (and) guided her upstairs to the master bedroom" where the two had sexual contact.

After Tatum, 41, and the teen allegedly engaged in sexual activity, the girl claimed that Tatum told her that "they had done something bad."

According to Tatum's daughter, her mother has engaged in sexual activity with a number of her friends, Townsend reported.

"(She's) done this before with my friends; I'm kind of used to it," Tatum's daughter said.

Police said they were hopeful that the reward would help them apprehend Tatum.

"It limits the number of places she can hide," said Det. Gerald Milner with Crime Stoppers. "If she's with family members…perhaps they'll accept that there's something wrong with this behavior."

Anyone with information was asked to call Crime Stoppers at 614-645-TIPS.

FDA Investigating Possible Link Between Singulair and Suicide

NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it is investigating a possible link between Merck's best-selling Singulair and suicide.
FDA said it is reviewing a handful of reports involving mood changes, suicidal behavior and suicide in patients who have taken the popular allergy and asthma drug.
Merck has updated the drug's labeling four times in the past year to include information on a range of reported side effects: tremors, anxiousness, depression and suicidal behavior.
FDA said it asked the Whitehouse, N.J.-based company to dig deeper into its data on Singulair for evidence of possible links to suicide. The agency said it has not established a "causal relationship" between Merck's drug and suicidal behavior. An agency spokeswoman said the review was prompted by three to four suicide reports it received since last October.
It could take up to nine months before agency scientists can draw any conclusions, FDA said in a posting to its Web site.
The agency recently began notifying the public earlier about possible safety issues. The policy change came after the FDA was criticized for acting too slowly on information about the risks of Merck's painkiller Vioxx and, GlaxoSmithKline plc's diabetes pill Avandia.

Merck officials stressed that the FDA's inquiry is based on reports, not clinical studies — which are the standard tool for evaluating drug safety. The company said none of the 11,000 patients enrolled in 40 Singulair trials has committed suicide.
"We have no indication that anything about the mechanism of Singulair is consistent with these events," said George Philip, director of research and product development. "But because suicide is a life-threatening event we thought it was important to provide this information in the product label."
Merck said it recently added reports of suicide to Singulair's label, which already listed suicidal thinking and behavior as reported side effects.
In clinical trials of asthma patients, the most common side effects were headache, flu, abdominal pain and cough.
With sales of $4.3 billion last year, Singulair is used by millions of patients in the U.S, according to Merck. First approved in 1998, it's part of a class of asthma and allergy drugs that includes AstraZeneca's Accolate and Critical Therapeutics's Zyflo.
FDA said it is also reviewing reports of side effects with those drugs. Their labeling does not contain language about suicide.
"Patients should not stop taking Singulair before talking to their doctor," FDA said in its statement, adding that doctors should monitor patients for suicidal behavior and mood changes.

Club where girl, 12, stripped will keep license

Place where girl, 12, danced can't be closed under city ordinance
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, March 27, 2008

The mere fact that a 12-year-old girl danced nude at a northwest Dallas strip club isn't enough to close its doors.
That's because the city ordinance that regulates sexually oriented businesses does not allow authorities to revoke the license of such a business for employing someone under the age of 18.
The sixth-grader danced at Diamonds Cabaret over a two-week period late last year, authorities say. They also say they found a 17-year-old girl working in the club in January.
"If they're not shut down, it's like they're giving them permission to have underage girls dancing and working in that club," said the mother of the 12-year-old. The mother is not being named because her daughter, a runaway at the time of the incident, is considered a sexual assault victim.
Operators of the Diamonds Cabaret at 2444 Walnut Ridge St. did not return calls for comment. Their sexually oriented business license expires in November.
Demonica Abron, 27, who worked as a stripper in the club, and David Bell, 22, are facing charges in connection with the 12-year-old girl's dancing in the club. Mr. Bell does not appear to have been employed by the club.
Police officials are continuing to investigate whether the club's management knew the sixth-grader was underage.
The 23-page city ordinance does allow revocation of a club's license if, for example, the club knowingly allows prostitution, the sale or use of drugs at the club, or if there are two convictions for sex-related crimes at the club within a 12-month period.
The department also can suspend, but not revoke, the license of an escort agency for up to 30 days if it has employed anyone under 18.
But the ordinance does not give the department similar power over adult cabarets such as Diamonds Cabaret.
"There's a laundry list of things we can use to deny or revoke a license, but having a 12-year-old dancing in their establishment is not one of the things that automatically enables us to revoke their license," said Lt. Christina Smith, a vice unit commander who oversees licensing of such establishments.
The mother of the 12-year-old girl said her daughter ran away in early November. She said the family frantically began looking and her husband finally found their daughter in late November. She was then interviewed by police.
According to court records, the runaway gave the following account:
Mr. Bell and Ms. Abron, who went by the stage name "Jewels," offered the runaway shelter. Mr. Bell told her that she would be stripping at a club called "Diamonds."
Mr. Bell dropped them off at the club one day and Ms. Abron introduced her to a man named "David" in the club's office.
"Suspect David asked complainant if she had ever danced before, she said no," the court records state. "David" then gave her an application, which she filled out with a fake name. She also told him that she was 19.
When "David" asked to see her identification, she told him that she didn't have one. He told her to bring one when she came to work as a dancer.
"Complainant couldn't think of a fake birthday, so she told suspect 'David' she forgot her birthday," the records state. "Suspect 'David' gave her a funny look and told her she would have been born in 1988 if she was 19."
A couple of days later, Mr. Bell drove Ms. Abron and the victim back to the club, where Ms. Abron introduced her to a man named "Steve."
"Suspect 'Steve' told" the girl "to take her clothes off to see if she was too shy to dance nude," the records state. He told her she would have to pay a fee ranging from $10 to $30 each time she danced nude.
She danced that night and made about $100, of which she gave $30 to "Steve," the records state.
The court documents are unclear on how many nights she danced.
The mother of the 12-year-old says she believes the club must have known her daughter was underage.
"I think they just didn't care," her mother said. "She's 12, but she's got the body of a 20-year-old. All they were thinking about was the money she could bring in."
She said her daughter is now living with her grandmother in Arlington and again attending school.
Ms. Abron and Mr. Bell were indicted in late February on one count of felony sexual performance of the child in connection with making the 12-year-old work at the club. Both are also accused of engaging in organized crime.
Mr. Bell is accused of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and aggravated kidnapping. He is still being held in the Dallas County Jail in lieu of $450,000 bail.
Ms. Abron, who also faces a prostitution charge, has been released on bail from jail.

famous quotes

"Whatever women must do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult."
~ Charlotte Whitton

"Love is to feel what the other is feeling even if they are far away." Barak
"I try to take one day at a time...but sometimes several days attack me at once."
~ Jennifer Unlimited
"Love is the delusion that one woman is different from another". Oscar Wilde
"Love is the answer, but while you're waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty interesting questions". Woody Allen
"If you can't be a good example...then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."
~ Catherine
"I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on."
~ Roseanne Barr
"I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love." Henry Ward Beecher
"When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country."
~ Elayne Boosler
"Behind every successful man is a surprised woman."
~ Maryon Pearson
"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile". Franklin Jones
"In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman."
~ Margaret Thatcher
"Love is good in feeling, even if you are always being hurt. It is better to be hurt by love than not loving at all". Anonymous
Why do banks charge you a " non sufficient funds" fee on money they already know you don't have?

random funny pictures

Is this what Bush had in mind when he said "Homeland security" Protecting America!
Now THAT'S what I call a wood!

This guy has the right idea!
For the bride that expects ALOT of fun on the honeymoon!
This is why you should never fart in a wet suit!
Gives new meaning to the term couch potato.

Pitbull loses fight with a porcupine

This is the most hear wrenching thing I have seen in a long time. this poor pitt bull apparently trying to defend his master against the "evil porcupine" learned his lesson the hard way when it comes to battling animals with spikes. Bet next time he sees a porcupine he will run away.

pit bulls being a very instinctively protective breed of dog, will defend their master agains nearly ANY animal. And now the poor thing looks like a living pin cushion. I can only IMAGINE the pain this poor animal must be going through.

funny comments heard from patients of a proctologist

[A physician claims these are actual comments from his patients made while he was performing colonoscopies.]

1. "Take it easy, Doc, you're boldly going where no man has gone before."
2. "Find Amelia Earhart yet?"
3. "Can you hear me NOW?"
4. "Oh boy, that was sphincterrific!"
5. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
6. "You know, in Arkansas, we're now legally married."
7. "Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?"
8. "You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out. You do the Hokey Pokey...."
9. "Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!"
10. "If your hand doesn't fit, you must acquit!"
11. "Hey, Doc, let me know if you find my dignity."
12. "You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?"
13. "Could you write me a note for my wife, saying that my head is not, in fact, up there?"

Woman files lawsuit against AMR because passenger next to her masturbated while she slept

A 21-year-old Harris County woman filed a $200,000 lawsuit against American Airlines alleging employees on a flight to Los Angeles from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport failed to protect her while she slept from another passenger who masturbated to her and ejaculated in her hair, according to a lawsuit she filed last week in Tarrant County.
The Harris County woman alleges employees knew of the risks associated with failing to “police the passengers to ensure that passengers do not hurt one another,” the suit states.Airline officials did not return calls seeking comment. In a statement to a Houston television station last year, a spokesman said the company regretted the incident, but the flight crew took appropriate action.
The woman and her lawyer could not be reached for comment. The Star-Telegram does not identify victims of sexual crimes.
Destined for a Spring Break visit with family and friends March 19, the woman flew from Houston to DFW Airport and had settled into her seat for the last leg of flight 2074 to Los Angeles about 11 p.m., the suit states. The woman slept most of the flight, but awoke about 20 minutes before landing when the pilot announced the plane was on descent into Los Angeles. When the woman opened her eyes, she saw that an unknown man had moved into the seat next to her and was staring at her as he masturbated, the suit states.
The woman turned toward the window in embarrassment and in an act of nervousness began to run her fingers through her hair where she noticed “a substantial amount of an extremely sticky substance in her hair,” the suit states.
The woman began to cry and tried to get the attention of a flight attendant, but was unsuccessful, the suit states. Finally a passenger in the row in front of the woman comforted her and verified the semen in her hair, the suit states.
When the plane landed, employee called airport police and the man was arrested.The suit alleges that the during the investigation, American Airlines employees told police they witnessed the man move from his assigned seat into the row where the woman was sleeping.The woman is seeking punitive damages and a jury trial.

Subway Miracle: Hero Beats Long Odds To Make Save

Columbia U. Worker Leaps Across 3 Tracks During Rush Hour To Save Much Bigger Man

Veeramuthu Kalimuthu, a mechanic at Columbia University, is being hailed as a hero after navigating across three dangerous subway tracks to rescue a man who had fallen into the path of a No. 1 train

NEW YORK (CBS) ― You're about to meet a subway hero, who jumped onto the tracks to save a man. But as CBS 2 HD has learned, his leap of faith was just the beginning. Veeramuthu Kalimuthu -- or Kali – is a mechanic at Columbia University. His recent actions make him a hero in the truest sense of the word. And if not for someone else coming forward to tell his story, the public would never know what he did on March 14. At around 5 p.m. that day he headed to the downtown No. 1 train at 116th Street in Morningside Heights to go home to Jamaica. "I heard everybody was screaming, you know, and everybody was running in different direction," Kalimuthu said. A man had fallen onto the tracks from the opposite platform, all the way on the other side of the station. "People were getting their cell phones out trying to call the police, somebody's got to help him and then I looked over and I saw the gentlemen Kali jump down, hop over the rails," said witness Ed Dijoseph, who brought Kali's story to CBS 2 HD. Kali made it across three sets of tracks, and knew about the three third rails, which are electrified with 600 volts -- enough to push a 400-ton train. "I was jumping from one over one rail, to over the next rail, over the next rail until I get to him," Kali said. Just getting to the man was hard enough, but once he got to him he had to deal with the fact that the victim was a good 30-40 pounds heavier than he was. Kali is just 5-foot-5 and 150 pounds. Add to that the fact that at 5 p.m. rush hour trains come through that section of track every three minutes. "He was trying to lift the guy up, but he was struggling because the guy who fell was bigger than him," Dijoseph said. With the help of someone on the platform, Kali hoisted the guy up. "I think within a minute after he got the man up the train heading Uptown came by," Dijoseph said. "If Kali hadn't moved him I truly … I really believe that the train would've killed him." The hero then jumped across the tracks again, back to his platform and his train home to his wife and two children. "People should help people," Kali said. "If all of us get along well in this world then we'll get a better world to live." Kali says he hopes to meet the man he saved one day, but so far he's not come forward. A NYC Transit spokesperson said the victim was reportedly intoxicated and taken to a local hospital.

Union: Workers Told to Use Urine Bags

DENVER (Map, News) - Union officials in Colorado say a Qwest supervisor tried to cut down on lengthy bathroom breaks by telling workmen to use disposable urinal bags in the field.
The manager distributed the bags to 25 male field technicians, telling them not to waste time leaving a job site to search for a public bathroom, the Rocky Mountain News reported Thursday.
"We deal with a lot of silliness in corporate America, but you've got to admit, it takes the freakin' cake," Reed Roberts, an administrative director at the Communications Workers of America District 7, told the newspaper.

Roberts did not return a message left by The Associated Press.

Qwest spokeswoman Jennifer Barton said, "There's no policy whatsoever" requiring field technicians to use the bags.
"They are there for convenience, and they are there because employees asked for them," she said.
The union has not filed a grievance, Barton said, and she could not discuss the details of the allegations from the communications company's field worker in the sparsely populated area near Montrose.
Roberts said he had complained to Qwest's corporate labor relations department. He said the company has made an issue of the amount of time wasted by workers returning to the garage or central office for bathroom breaks.
But he said it appears this manager "took it upon himself to cut down on the time technicians spend to go to the bathroom."
Neither Roberts nor Barton gave the name of the supervisor involved.
Qwest and other companies have for years offered portable urinal bags to workers who could find themselves in the field far from a bathroom.
The bag's manufacturer, American Innotek, said it provides the bags to various industrial companies, including electric utilities, municipal public works and telephone companies.
Ryan Hiott, a regional director for Innotek, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered 2.5 million bags after Hurricane Katrina.

Registered Sex Offender Running for Mayor of Small Texas Town

WILMER, Texas — A registered sex offender is running for mayor of a Dallas-area town.
James Brian Sliter wants to be mayor of Wilmer. The election is May 10.
Records show that Sliter was arrested four years ago for arranging sex with someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl on the Internet. When Sliter got to the meeting place, he was greeted by police instead of a teenager.
Sliter, who is now 42, said he needs to prove that he can be an asset to his community. He says that he's truly sorry and hopes voters realize that people make mistakes.
Sliter was charged with attempting to sexually assault a child and placed on 10 years probation, according to state records. He's eligible to run because he received deferred adjudication and not a conviction.
"People need to realize that people make mistakes, and they need to look past those mistakes and forgive and move on," Sliter told Dallas TV news station KTVT. "I'm not asking anybody to condone what I did."
The town's current mayor, Don Hudson, said the campaign won't cast a good light on Wilmer.

"Will a sex offender serving as mayor put a stigma on this city? You bet it will," Hudson told KTVT.

On board the world's first 'gigayacht': The £100m luxury yacht with its own garden, pool and tennis court

Life can have its little irritations when you're cruising around the world on your £100million superyacht.
For example, the endless vista of clear blue sea fails to provide much greenery to ease the eye - apart from the odd tropical island.

For the owner of a forthcoming craft named WallyIsland, however, this will not be a problem.
For he, or she, will have a personal ocean-going garden.
The 325ft-long yacht is to feature a growing area with shrubbery and flower beds, kept healthy by an irrigation system.

She added: "This is a yacht where you have a piece of land that you can use to play your favourite sport, to grow your favourite plants, to enjoy your favourite outdoor activity.
"This will appeal to someone who wants to be completely independent. No other yachts offer this kind of garden."
The buyer will be able to specify the exact foliage required before building is completed.
Because of its huge 1,000 square metre deck space, which is finished in teak, the WallyIsland design differs from that of traditional super-yachts in that it is constructed more like a tanker.
Although the makers are refusing to disclose a price for the extraordinary vessel, it is believed that this industrial method of construction will bring the cost down to a "competitive" figure of around £100million.
WallyIsland includes sleeping quarters for up to 40 crew and 24 guests as well as the owner's suites.
It holds 750,000 litres of fuel, enabling it to stay out of port for 15,000 nautical miles.
The aft deck holds two 45ft motor yachts, as well as space for two 27ft sailing yachts, two cars and water-toys including six jetskis.

New Zealand fishermen have caught a rare colossal squid as it swam for food in Antarctic waters.
The spectacular specimen is nearly 10 metres long and is believed to weigh around half a tonne or 450 kilograms. It took the fishermen two hours to catch.
The colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni , is the largest living invertebrate and may be the first mature male specimen to have ever been found.

The only other complete colossal squid specimen to be caught was an immature female in the Ross Sea in 2004 weighing 300 kilograms.

Archie the giant squid:
The Natural History Museum has a giant squid, Architeuthis dux , measuring 8.62 metres, pictured in the image above. Nicknamed Archie, it was caught alive and almost complete making it a very important specimen for research. Archie can be seen on bookable Explore tours .
Comparing the squids :
Very little is known about these mysterious deep-sea creatures and what scientists do know often comes from the remains of dead or dying specimens.
By looking at the beaks found in the stomachs of sperm whales it is thought that the colossal squid can reach greater lengths than the giant squid and it is also thought to be much heavier.
Unlike the giant squid, most of the length of the colossal squid is taken up by the mantle (the body of the animal). It is also thought that they have even larger eyes than that of the giant squid giving them the largest eyes of any living animal on the planet.

Like the giant squid it has serrated, sharp suckers but the colossal squid also has two rows of hook-like swivelling suckers.

'This specimen is very important since we know very little about this animal and it gives scientists the first chance to study a mature adult specimen of this species,' says Jon Ablett, invertebrate expert at the Museum.

'Since the specimen is complete it will allow us to have a clearer idea of the physiology and biology of this creature and by analysing the remains in the squid's stomach we will have more data on what this species eats.'

DNA analysis:
Since the specimen was caught alive it will be possible to take tissue samples for DNA analysis. This will allow scientists to see how closely related it is to other squid species.
It is also possible that isotope analysis could be done on the specimen. This involves looking at what isotopes (forms) of different elements are laid down in the tissues as the creature grows. This can give clues about where the animal lived and if it lived over a wide or narrow geographic range.

'Hopefully by studying this rare and amazing creature scientists can learn more about it and possibly have a greater insight in to how it lives.'

'I must admit that I am very jealous of the scientists who will get to work on and preserve this specimen as it would be fantastic to study such a large and mysterious squid,' concludes Ablett.
Further Information:
Find out more about how the Museum prepared a giant squid for display
Find out how to book an Explore tours
Get the facts in the Kids only giant squid page and Monsters of the deep page
Visit Marine Invertebrates gallery
Discover more about Other invertebrates
Get the Deep Ocean book
External Links
Wikipedia colossal squid page
TONMO giant squid and colossal squid fact sheet
Tree of Life colossal squid page

India's Dirty Harry notches up 87 kills

India's Dirty Harry, the zero tolerence Bombay policeman who dispenses justice from the barrel of a gun, has killed 87 suspects and shows no signs of stopping.

While Inspector Pradeep Sharma's methods are questioned by human rights groups, he remains unrepentant. In fact he insists in language that might have come straight out of a Clint Eastwood movie that he acts in self-defence. "These criminals are filth. My mission is to cleanse the city of this filth and it's working," he said. "If they're armed and resist arrest, then I have to shoot in self-defence.

This is just one of the many victims left behind from the many terrorists plaguing India's streets.

"Why this concern for them? If they're walking about with AK-47s, you can be sure they're not going to the temple or going shopping."

Sharma's campaign began 13 years ago after he joined Bombay's newly formed Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU). Now at 41, he is officially credited as the policeman with the most "kills" in India.

He is known to journalists as "the terminator." He receives letters of support every day that far outnumber the complaints about the so-called "encounters" in which the suspects die. "I'm just a God-fearing man doing my job, which is eliminating crime in this city, not terminating people," said Sharma, who denies his "encounters" are stage-managed.

Yet another victim of the MANY terrorist attacks that take place in India every day.

His critics accuse him of taking suspects to a deserted place in the early hours, pushing them out of a police jeep, ordering them to run and then shooting them."

Look, out of the 600 or so criminals I have arrested, only 87 were killed," he said. "My aim is to arrest criminals and terrorists alive because that is the only way to get information and to break their networks." Sharma and his unit have gained such a reputation that they are featured in a series of new Bollywood movies. His superiors are revelling in the glory and are fully backing him. "This talk of excesses or fake encounters is baseless," said Satyapal Singh, Bombay's police commissioner for crime. "We don't want dead criminals. We want them behind bars. But they often resist because they know they'll face 10 to 15 years in jail."

One of the few lawyers to have challenged Sharma is Majeed Memon, who claims that some of his killings have been premeditated. "Isn't it strange that when Sharma fires on so-called criminals, no victim has ever survived his injuries and lived to give his version of events?" he said. But for the moment the public seems happy to give Sharma the benefit of the doubt. "The feeling is that one more killing means one fewer criminal out there and it's better just to close the file and move on to the next delinquent," said Ajit Panja, a Delhi lawyer. Earlier this month Sharma shot his latest victims - three alleged members of the Pakistan-based Islamic group Lashkar-i-Toiba. They were suspected of being involved in two bomb explosions that killed more than 50 people in Bombay last month.

"These activists only care about human rights for terrorists, contract killers and drug traffickers, not human rights for ordinary people. They don't scare me and nor do the criminals. I'm doing my duty and I'll continue," said Sharma.

Dolphins save swimmers from great white shark

Dolphins proved to be a swimmer’s best friend when they saved a group of swimmers from attack by a great white shark.

The amazing rescue took place at a beach near Whangarei on New Zealand’s North Island when the swimmers were threatened by one of the ocean’s most deadly predators.

Lifesavers Rob Howes, his 15-year-old daughter Niccy, Karina Cooper and Helen Slade were doing lifeguard training 100 meters (300 feet) off Ocean Beach when their frightening ordeal began.

Menaced by a 3 meter (9 feet) great white, a pod of dolphins raced immediately to their rescue. The seven animals surrounded the swimmers for 40 minutes until they could swim to safety.

Initially Howes and his group thought they were being attacked by the dolphins. He described how the dolphins began to herd them up, pushing the four of them together by doing tight circles around them.

He attempted to drift away from the group, but two of the bigger dolphins herded him back. Just then he spotted a 3 meter great white shark swimming towards the group.

The shark, he said, was only about 2 meters (6 feet) from him and he recoiled at the sight of the mighty predator. It was then he realized the dolphins, far from attacking them, were trying to keep them from harm.

For a full 40 anxious minutes their dolphin friends formed a protective barrier around the swimmers, as the shark lurked menacingly beneath the surface. The dolphins slapped the water with their tails to scare off the great white.

Howes and his group said they were in no doubt that the dolphins were trying to protect them.Dolphin experts say that the creatures are known to attack sharks to protect themselves and their young, so they could have sensed the dangers the hapless swimmers were in and moved in to protect them.

It wouldn't have been the first time dolphins have been hailed for saving humans from a shark. In Greek mythology, the writer Herodotus tells how Arion a musician was saved by the sea creatures after sailors had thrown him from their ship. The dolphins carried him back to land on their backs, according to the legend.

could THIS explain why so many indian men are looking to other countrys to find brides?

About ten million female births in India may have been lost to abortion and sex selection over the past 20 years because of a traditional preference for boys.

These are the shock findings of a report, published in the British Medical Journal, Lancet.

The study lays the blame squarely on the use of ultrasound screening which can tell families whether their child will be a boy or a girl.

The research, based on a national survey of more than one million households, found an unusual gender imbalance in the country.

The gender imbalance in India has been known about for some time. It has caused a marriage crisis in rural areas where thousands of young men are failing to find brides.

The latest research was carried out by Prabhat Jha of St Michael's Hospital at the University of Toronto, Canada, and Rajesh Kumar of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Research in Chandigarh, India.

In their study published in the Lancet journal (Jan 2006), they said prenatal selection and selective abortion was causing the loss of 500,000 girls a year.

Their research was based on a national survey of 1.1m households in 1998.The researchers claimed the "girl deficit" was more common among educated women but did not vary according to religion.They found that there was an increasing tendency to select boys when previous children had been girls.

Prabhat Jha said conservative estimates in the research suggested half a million girls were being lost each year."

If this practice has been common for most of the past two decades since access to ultrasound became widespread, then a figure of 10m missing female births would not be unreasonable."In most countries, women slightly outnumber men. But separate research for the year 2001 showed that for every 1,000 male babies born in India, there were only 933 girls.

Traditionally female children have been regarded as inferior and a liability in India. This is said to be a throw back to the time when India was primarily an agrarian society where boys were considered more useful for farm work.

Comatose man wakes up after being asleep for 19 years

A comatose man woke up after being asleep for 19 years, to find that his world had changed beyond all recognition.

Polish railway worker Jan Grzebski lost consciousness in 1988 after being struck by a train. He suffered horrific injuries when his head was trapped between two carriages.

He didn't come out of his coma until Sunday June 3 2007 when he opened his eyes to see his devoted wife Gertruda's face looking at him. She cared for him all through his coma.

Mr. Grzebski was given only about two years to live after he slipped into unconsciousness in 1988 and doctors discovered he had a tumor on his brain.

But he remained in good health due to the tireless efforts of his saintly wife Gertruda. She fed and washed her husband's motionless body every day and moved him every hour to prevent bedsore infections.

Jan's doctor said she had "done the job of an entire intensive care team. "Her devotion was rewarded when at 65 years of age Jan came out of his coma. He told members of his family he had vague memories of family gatherings and relatives talking to him, trying to provoke a response.

But he woke up to an entirely different world to the one he remembered, and a Poland that was a far cry from the bleak communist country he was used to. "When I went into a coma there was only tea and vinegar in the shops," the wheelchair-bound Jan said. "Meat was rationed and there were huge petrol queues everywhere. Now I see people on the streets with mobile phones and there are so many goods in shops it makes my head spin".

Just a year after Jan's accident, Poland shed its communist rule and the nation began its journey to becoming the westernised state it is today.

TV ads and fashion are all new concepts for Jan. He is amazed at the colorful streets and the goods, and says the world is a much prettier place now.

These are just some of the world events that he missed while he was sleeping:

1989 - Soviet troops pull out of Afghanistan; Berlin wall comes down

1990 - First digital mobile phone call

1991 - First Gulf War

1993 - Bill Clinton becomes US president

1997 - Princess Diana dies in Paris crash

2001 - September 11

2003 - Second Gulf War; MySpace.com launched

2005 - Pope John Paul II, a fellow countryman, dies

The wife who never gave up on him said she cried and prayed a lot throughout the long and lonely coma years. "Those who came to see us kept asking, 'When is he going to die?' But he's not dead," Gertruda said.

Delighted that her Ian has now rejoined the world, she added: "This is my reward for all the care, faith and love."

Maggots take up residence inside man's head

It's the stuff nightmares and horror movies are made of. A holidaymaker got a nasty shock when he learned that the strange bleeding bumps on his head were not bites or shingles, but live maggots. Aaron Dallas, from Colorado, looked for medical help when the unusual lumps appeared on his scalp after a holiday to Belize during the summer. One doctor thought they might have been caused by a gnat bite. Another believed his problem was shingles. But then the bumps took on a life of their own and began to move.

A doctor discovered five bot fly larvae living inside Aaron Dallas's head, near the top of his skull. This was a few weeks after a mosquito had apparently placed them there. "I'd put my hand back there and feel them moving. I thought it was blood coursing through my head. I could hear them. I actually thought I was going crazy," said Dallas, of Carbondale.

Bot flies rely on mosquitoes, stable flies, and other insects to carry their eggs to a host - and in this case the host was Dallas. "It was weird and traumatic," he said. "I would get this pain that would drop me to my knees."

After their discovery, the parasites were removed by a doctor. Dallas's wife teased him about it afterwards, but didn't find the experience funny. "It's much funnier to everyone else. It makes my stomach turn over. It was cruel,'' he said.

Bot fly infections are fairly routine in parts of Central and South America.-

Couple played Dungeons & Dragons while babies starved

Two babies were left starving and suffering health problems while their parents played Dungeons & Dragons.

American couple Michael and Iana Straw, 25 and 23, from Nevada pleaded guilty to child neglect, brought about by their obsession with internet and video games, authorities said.

Their children, a boy aged 22 months and girl aged 11 months, were badly malnourished and near to death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to hospital.

Michael Straw, who was unemployed at the time of the incident, had come into a $50,000 inheritance and spent it on computer equipment and a large plasma TV.

The Straws allegedly failed to feed or properly clean their children because they couldn't tear themselves away from the computer. Their main obsession was with the fantasy role-playing Dungeons & Dragons series.

Prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria said: "They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games. "Police were called in after complaints from neighbors that one of the children would not stop crying. According to the police report, the family's home was strewn with rubbish bags. Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration. Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said.

Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal. The parents face maximum jail sentences of 12 years each. While child abuse because of drug addiction is common, abuse rooted in video game addiction is rare, Ms Viloria said. Last month, experts at an American Medical Association meeting backed away from a proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder, saying it had to be studied further.

Nevada Child Abuse Prevention said video game addiction's correlation to child abuse is "a new spin on an old problem".

"As we become more technologically advanced, there's more distractions. It's easy for someone to get addicted to something and neglect their children," a spokesman said.- July 18, 2007

Incredible war story: soldier has miracle escape from skull knifing

Sgt Dan Powers (above and below) survived an attack in which four inches of a knife blade (also pictured) was rammed into his skull

An American soldier had a miraculous escape from a knife attack in which four inches of a blade was rammed into his skull. At first Sergeant Dan Powers wasn't even aware that he had been stabbed by an Iraqi insurgent. He was patrolling in the streets of East Baghdad in Iraq when his attacker came up behind him. He simply thought he had been bumped "like a football tackle" until colleagues told him what had happened. "There was no pain because the brain has no pain sensory nerves. It was all surface, like someone punched me in the head," he said.

His fellow soldiers decided against pulling out the blade, instead protecting the knife handle with bandages and a plastic cup, and taking him to a military hospital.

Throughout his surgery Powers was awake, explaining to the doctors what had happened as they worked on the knife. At one point someone placed a phone over his ear so he could talk to his wife back at home and reassure her that everything would be fine. Senior surgeon in Iraq Lt. Col. Richard Teff was guided by video link from the US by the army's top vascular neurosurgeon Lt. Col. Rocco Armonda. "We were lucky we had the right people in the right place," Dr. Teff said.Dr. Teff faced a difficult dilemma, carry out a major brain and artery operation, or cross his fingers and pull out the knife embedded in the victim's brain."

Any time you have a penetrating stab to the head, the biggest concern is what's going to happen when you pull the knife out," he explained. "He started bleeding like crazy, enough to make everyone in the room worry he might die," Teff said. Despite fears that Sgt. Powers would suffer severe paralysis, brain damage and lost eyesight, he confounded the experts. Though he faced more surgery back in the US, after a month he was discharged. He was given the knife, though he agreed to send it back to Baghdad for his attacker's trial.

He said he does not know what happened to his attacker, but understood the Iraqis "will lengthen his neck a little bit". His remarkable recovery is regarded as a miracle of modern military medicine.- November 9, 2007.

Lifeguard's last day on the job

Bathroom Break - video powered by Metacafe
This video really speaks for itself, just watch it and have a good laugh.

The man with no face - medical science offers new hope to face-eating tumor man

Above: Jose Mestre and his sister Guida in London. Pictures below show Jose aged 14 when the tumor was still small, and as he is now.

A victim of horrific facial disfigurement - known as "the man with no face" - has been given new hope by the advancement of medical science. Jose Mestre, from Lisbon, Portugal, has been losing his face to a huge growth for the past 35 years, distorting it out of all recognition - and it's still growing. The tumor on 51-year-old Jose's face is a collection of blood vessels that have expanded, producing a raised red area on the skin. Jose was born with a strawberry-coloured birthmark on his upper lip. At puberty it began growing, eventually smothering his lips, nose and one of his eyes. Now it is 33cm long and weighs 3kg.But Jose's religious faith - as a Jehovah's Witness he refuses to accept a blood transfusion - has prevented him from having surgery to remove the growth. Jose's rare condition was the subject of a Discovery Channel TV documentary 'The Man With No Face', part of the 'My Shocking Story' series. It reveals how top medical experts in London have now held out hope of helping Jose, a well-known figure around the streets of Lisbon. A leading British surgeon has offered to treat Jose using ultrasound waves to coagulate the blood before the operation. This should remove the risk of heavy bleeding - satisfying his religious beliefs about blood transfusions in the process. Dr Iain Hutchison, of St Bartholomew's in London, is confident an operation with a harmonic scalpel could make him look a lot more normal. Discovery Channel said: "Surrounded by a loving family, it seems incredible that he has not been treated and his face was allowed to grow so big. However, through years of medical misinformation, some misdiagnosis, lack of finances, and reluctance to undergo treatment due to religious beliefs, the growth has continued to obliterate his face."My Shocking Story" follows Jose on a journey through Europe to seek medical advice for one last chance to stop his face from suffocating him. In this journey of a lifetime he travels by train, via Paris, to Britain, to meet the top experts in London. He goes through a series of tests, consultations, and meets other patients with a similar affliction. In London he also spends time with his sister Guida and the rest of his family, enjoys being a tourist in London, while making the biggest decision of his life. Jose's dream is to live a long and normal life. Following the showing of the Discovery documentary he continues to adhere to his 'no blood transfusion' religious principles. But he has agreed to go back to the London hospital in 2008, when doctors hope to carry out specialist surgery to begin removing parts of his tumor, without the need for blood transfusions.- December 24, 2007.

Woman Gets Stuck on her Boyfriend's Toilet Seat

The home of Kory McFarren is pictured on Thursday, March 13, 2008, in Ness City, Kan., where the man's girlfriend was found in the bathroom having stayed there for long enough for her to become stuck to the toilet. Associated Press photo by Lindsey Bauman
A man should be charged for allowing his girlfriend to sit on their toilet so long that her body became stuck to the seat, the sheriff said Thursday.
Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple was among authorities who discovered the woman last month living in the bathroom of a mobile home she shared with her boyfriend, Kory McFarren.
"The house was cluttered but not in shambles," he said. "The smell was overpowering — a terrible smell about the house, obviously coming from where she was at."
McFarren, 36, told police his girlfriend, Pam Babcock, 35, had a phobia about leaving the bathroom and may not have left the bathroom in two years, although he's unsure how long she was in there.
He said during that time, he brought her food, water, and clean clothes.
"The only thing I am guilty of is I didn't get her help sooner," he told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The sheriff said that judging by the woman's condition — she had open sores on which the toilet seat would stick — it appeared she likely sat on the toilet continually for at least a month.
"She would have to be sleeping on the toilet," the sheriff said.
Whipple asked the county attorney to charge McFarren for mistreatment of a dependent adult. The prosecutor did not return phone calls seeking comment.
"The unfortunate thing is this truly is a case of two people, in my opinion, with diminished mental capacity," Whipple said.
McFarren, who works at an antique store, said he has been taking care of Babcock for the 16 years they have lived together. He insisted that he tried to coax her out of the bathroom every day. The home has a second bathroom.
McFarren said he finally called police Feb. 27 after he became worried because Babcock was acting groggy, as if she didn't know what was going on around her.
What emergency responders found when they entered the bathroom has left many in the town of about 1,500 people buzzing and authorities incredulous.
Whipple said the seat was taken off the toilet so the woman could be transported to the hospital for treatment.
Doctors at the Wichita hospital told the boyfriend an infection in her legs has damaged her nerves and may leave her in a wheelchair, he said.

Cruise ship built from home!

Francois Zanella, a 58 year old former mine worker has built a cruise ship at his home in Morsbach, Moselle in North-Eastern part of France. He started building his ship on August 10th, 1994. By that time, he had already spent more than 3,500 hours designing in excruciating detail all the components of the ship. It took him 11 long years to build the ship, a process that was completed on June 23, 2005. On that day his ship started sailing from port
Sarreguemines.Francois built his ship based on the model of Royal Caribbean's 1992 cruise ship Majesty of the Seas, but on a smaller scale. Because of that, he also named his ship Majesty of the Seas. Building this ship was a dream come true for Francois, a dream for which he happily spent 25,000 hours of his life. He also became quite famous in France because of this project. One of the main TV channels in the country - France 3 - created a special program named Thalassa which followed his work during the construction process. He received considerable amount of fan mail because of that. Currently Francois is enjoying the fruits of his labor by traveling around the world in his own cruise ship - Majesty of the Seas. Below listed from top to bottom are the pictures of this amazing ship. First is the ship and where it was built. The second shows how it was transported to the sea.

Miracle Mule birth

High up on the Mesa, in the Grand Valley town of Collbran, a tiny four legged wonder sticks close to its mothers side. It is the latest addition to the ranch owned by Larry and Laura Amos. But this is a once-in-a-million, genetically impossible occurrence of a mule giving birth. The mother of this beauty, is named Kate. She is a mule. Mules are a hybrid of two species, a female horse and a male donkey. Breeding the two results in a species with 63 chromosomes. A horse has 64, a donkey has 62. A mule can't reproduce because you need an even number of chromosomes to divide into pairs. This little wonder came into the world in late April to the shock of the Amos family. Doting mother Kate has no idea what she has accomplished. According to the magazine, "Mules and More", it is theoretically impossible for mules to be sires or dams. Mule fertility is so rare that the Romans had a saying, "Cum mula peperit" meaning "when a mule foals," or in modern terms, "when hell freezes over." A full article on the baby is linked to this story from the "Mules and More" web site. It explains, the baby would not technically be a mule (half horse and half donkey) since it would have to be either one-third horse and two-thirds donkey, or two-thirds horse and one-third donkey. Larry and Laura Amos own Winterhawk Outfitters in Collbran. They guide elk hunters, take pack trips, and fishing trips to remote lakes and streams in the Flat Tops Wilderness. They have taught American soldiers the fine art of mule packing for use in Afghanistan and Iraq

Tree man 'who grew roots' may be cured

An Indonesian fisherman who feared that he would be killed by tree-like growths covering his body has been given hope of recovery by an American doctor - and Vitamin A. Dede, now 35, baffled medical experts when warty "roots" began growing out of his arms and feet after he cut his knee in a teenage accident.

The welts spread across his body unchecked and soon he was left unable to carry out everyday household tasks. Sacked from his job and deserted by his wife, Dede has been raising his two children - now in their late teens - in poverty, resigned to the fact that local doctors had no cure for his condition.To make ends meet he even joined a local "freak show", parading in front of a paying audience alongside victims of other peculiar diseases. Although supported by his extended family, he was often a target of abuse and ridicule in his rural fishing village.

But now an American dermatology expert who flew out to Dede's home village south of the capital Jakarta claims to have identified his condition, and proposed a treatment that could transform his life.After testing samples of the lesions and Dede's blood, Dr. Anthony Gaspari of the University of Maryland concluded that his affliction is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a fairly common infection that usually causes small warts to develop on sufferers. Dede's problem is that he has a rare genetic fault that impedes his immune system, meaning his body is unable to contain the warts. The virus was therefore able to "hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells", ordering them to produce massive amounts of the substance that caused the tree-like growths known as "cutaneous horns" on his hands and feet. Dede's counts of a key type of white blood cell are so low that Dr. Gaspari initially suspected he may have the Aids virus. But tests showed he did not, and it became clear that Dede's immune condition was something far rarer and more mysterious.

Warts aside, he had enjoyed remarkable good health throughout his life - which would not be expected of someone with a suppressed immune system - and neither his parents nor his siblings have shown signs of developing lesions. "The likelihood of having his deficiency is less than one in a million," Dr. Gaspari told the Telegraph. Dr. Gaspari, who became involved in the case through a Discovery Channel documentary, believes that Dede's condition can be largely cleared up by a daily doses of a synthetic form of Vitamin A, which has been shown to arrest the growth of warts in severe cases of HPV. "He won't have a perfectly normal body but the warts should reduce in size to the point where he could use his hands, " Dr. Gaspari said. "Over the course of three to six months the warts should be come smaller and fewer in number. He will be living a more normal life. "The most resilient warts could then be frozen off and the growths on his hands and feet surgically removed. Dr. Gaspari hopes to get the necessary drugs free of charge from pharmaceutical firms. They would then be administered by Indonesian doctors under his supervision.

Still intrigued by the origins of Dede's peculiar immune condition, the doctor would like to fly him to the United States for further examination, but fears the financial and bureaucratic barriers would prove too difficult to overcome. "I would like to bring him to the US to run tests on where his immune condition has come from, but I would need funding and to get him a visa as well as someone to cover the costs of the tests," he said."I've never seen anything like this in my entire career.""Half Man Half Tree", part of the "My Shocking Story" series, was shown on the Discovery Channel at 9pm on Nov 15. 2007